Whatever You Do
by ardy1
Summary: It appears Miroku has behaved like an ass and Inuyasha must find a way out for him that doesn't involve violent bloodletting. Something of a parlour mystery.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Oops. I started another story. Well, this one came to me in a dream, and I should be able to dispose of it in three chapters, tops. The whole premise is already outlined, unlike most of my attempts at fanfiction. So, it will be over swiftly, for all concerned.

_Disclaimer: Huh. Can't even disclaim the owners/creators because I haven't paid enough attention. Still, I think 'they've' done a lovely job of providing toys to play with and, since my play involves no commercial intent nor desire to infringe copyright - it appears I should be home-free._

**Whatever You Do**

"Whatever you do…" Miroku stressed as forcefully as he could to his half-demon friend, flanked as he was by the local headman's guards, well-armed with weapons far beyond the usual farm implements. Well, it _was_ rather a larger village than usual. "…Do _not_ intimate to Sango or even Kagome as to why I have been detained."

"'Intimate'? Sorry, chum, you blew past me on that one. Just what exactly do you want me to tell the girls? That you've been jailed for being a thief? Hell, they've known _that _for months!" Inuyasha pretended to clean the wax out of one ear with his claw. While he was, in fact, quite as anxious as the monk as to how to resolve this particular problem, he couldn't stop himself from resorting to a certain amount of teasing.

It wasn't as if Miroku wouldn't do the same in his place. Later, assuming Miroku got out okay, they'd both chuckle a bit as they sipped purloined sake after the girls had gone to sleep. It was all part of this male-bonding thing that he'd missed out on during most of his life. Although, when he thought about it, bonding with a reprobate itinerant monk was probably _not_ the smartest thing to be doing. Then again, it wasn't like he was in a position to pick and choose.

And, when you really thought about it, for all his faults and deceptions as a monk, Inuyasha was hard-pressed to think of anyone he'd rather have at his back than Miroku. He had watched as his friend had closed his eyes, visibly gathering patience as the muscles rolled beneath his monk's robes. One of the things he liked most about Miroku; while the guy could more than hold his own in a fight, he insisted in downplaying his role, spouting nonsense about Buddha's abhorrence of violence. Miroku didn't make a big deal out of kick-ass fighting. Thus Inuyasha was content to ignore the simple fact that any valuables after a fight always disappeared when Miroku was concerned. As far as he was concerned, it was one worry less, after all…

"Okay, okay. Don't get your kesa in a twist. Sango ain't gotta know that you're suspected of thievery and kidnapping because the local lord's daughter is missing,.."

The silence should have been encouraging, if Inuyasha hadn't known him so well! "Pity that, along with treasure-trove it takes a rather _experienced_ eye to value, you were observed escorting the princess through the moon-garden just hours beforehand."

Inuyasha stated the facts as baldly as they appeared to him. Surely Miroku could provide an alibi once he appreciated the seriousness of the situation.

Unless, of course, the alibi would have netted him yet _greater _retribution from Sango.

Hell, they had promised to raise a family together once Naraku was dead. Thinking about Miroku's options made Inuyasha lower his ears firmly against his scalp. This whole friendship thing was rife with hidden dangers, such as worrying about the veracity of those you know were far too fluent at lying…

"Inuyasha! I don't know this girl! It's not just _me_ we have to worry about – what has actually happened to her?" Inuyasha noticed Miroku was rather too quick on the uptake there. "Find her! Talk to her! And… and _help_ me!" Inuyasha hadn't spent the last months in Miroku's company without learning to recognize that the monk was speaking on several different layers to him. Sadly, the reality was that he could probably have figured out one layer, but he was reasonably sure that Miroku's truth lay buried at least another layer down.

Damn. What was he to do?

That the local court resumed before the area's lord was likely to have had breakfast was, at least to Miroku's way of thinking, a bad sign. When his case came up he was only partially through the morning's recitation of sutras. On the other hand, the local lord delegated pre-breakfast cases to a subordinate who, of religious orders himself, lacked the courage to decide questions that might raise questions of bad karma, shoddy evidence, or intimations of scandal. This case wallowed deeply in all three.

Miroku was bound over for trial, pending future revelations. Given his status as an itinerant monk, pre-trial release was not an option. In modern parlance, Miroku was a prime flight-risk. Just because the setting was sixteenth century Japan was no reason to assume the concept was unknown or not considered.

Inuyasha knew that Miroku was damned lucky he was a monk. That and the fact that the girl was still missing along with a rather absurdly valuable lot of crockery (Inuyasha's words) saved Miroku from summary execution. Sad to say, neither Miroku nor Inuyasha knew just which the lord was more interested in seeing returned, the pretty girl or pretty pots.

Miroku had sworn yet again he did not know the whereabouts of either. Recognizing his friend's ability to lie plausibly, even to him, Inuyasha opted for the possibility that the monk had, for once, taken the high road. After all, his behavior since the whole rescue-of-an-old-lover-from-the-fish-yukai debacle had been largely on the up and up. Mostly. And, as Miroku was quick to remind Inuyasha, while long-time habits were exceedingly hard to break, one was more likely to cheat on a small scale, inhibited both by guilt and fear of being caught. It simply did _not_ make sense that a determinedly reformed Miroku would seduce the princess and run off with the lord's treasure all in the same night, leaving his friends and allies behind.

Did it say something sad about their friendship that Inuyasha found the monk's logic more compelling than his appeals to their long-standing association? Well, if it did, it merely gave them something else to laugh about over the sake.

While Miroku had forbidden Inuyasha from informing Sango or Kagome of his troubles, he'd said nothing of keeping Shippou in ignorance. With the kit off plumbing the depths of the castle's rumor mills, innocent eyes all a-shimmer (after Inuyasha had brought him up to date), the half-demon credited the monk again for shaving his calculus of risks and rewards finely. Shippou was an excellent choice for ferreting out speculation and hints of facts, but the monk would owe the young fox substantially if he meant to keep the whole affair from their companions. And Shippou was nothing if not diligent in collecting on debts. The fact that Miroku had not requested Shippou's aid put Inuyasha in the middle, a place Inuyasha was more likely to settle with a fist than a word, a fact Miroku was more than well aware of. So Inuyasha had had to convince Shippou on his own to participate - Kagome's regard for the bastard monk had been surprisingly adequate as motivation - and that was yet another reason to demand the monk pay for the sake!

* * *

Enforced lack of activity for some hours had denied the monk's usual surcease of stiff muscles in his morning yoga exercises. He looked to the change of routine for positive aspects. For example, any active delay would work in his favor; it gave Inuyasha more time to consider a defense and marshal resources in support. Since he was going to have to suborn witnesses as to his activities of the previous evening this would, in fact, take some time. He sighed. It was to be hoped that Inuyasha would understand that business about suborning witnesses – he did _not_ want the truth coming out. It generally took time to find effective false witnesses if you had not previously prepared the ground.

But delay was not necessarily the order of the day. How…inconvenient.

Miroku's arms had been bound – particular attention paid to his _kazanna _– and a yoke or collar, had been placed around his neck as he was led to the criminal's stool.

As he walked a bucket had been overturned, dumping a rather noxious muck on Miroku's head, he found himself smiling ruefully, and murmured a blessing for rogues that tripped all too familiarly off his tongue. It did not escape his notice that it referenced rather explicitly something regarding universal justice and convenient scapegoats.

Years of discipline allowed him to avoid ending his pious chant with anything so untoward as a chuckle as he faced his fellow monk in the personage of the magistrate. Miroku ignored this as he considered the array of witnesses against him, and what it said about his possible defense.

A line of witnesses clearly demonstrated the princess' intent to defy her father. Another rather _shorter_ line provided testimony regarding yet another influential potential lover of the princess, along with a distinct shift in ideological balance during the crucial time period. The prosecution's impetus appeared to be towards a combination of greed for the lord's treasury and political unrest. The upshot was the motivation involved regime change financed by the local lord's treasure, as opposed to revolution on the backs of the local peasants and landholders. A tug-of-war revealed itself between several sets of landholding minor lords.

The witnesses against him were surprisingly few. Well, he coughed to himself, few considering reality and the benefits of finding an apolitical and plausible villain. Miroku was rather flattered to find he'd been chosen to fit the bill. Flattered and equally disappointed. He'd hoped he'd been more accomplished in hiding his exploits in the shame of his 'clients' at admitting they had been bamboozled. He looked forward to discussing that particular problem with Mushin. After all, it had been the high monk's brain child that rank and pride would not allow the lords to even whisper at being defrauded by those they perceived as below them. Of course, Miroku had found himself constantly tempted to raise the stakes of such pilfering into the ranks of grand larceny, but Mushin had never complained.

Guilt compelled Miroku to wonder if perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised to find this modus operandi was not completely unknown. Mind you, Miroku wouldn't have been surprised to discover that pure greed had been the driving force behind the whole escapade. He had, after all, been given a tour of the lord's ceramics, including a striking collection of continental jade pieces of exquisite color and delicacy, by the now missing princess. He sighed heavily. Had this opportunity presented itself but six months earlier…

But, he reminded himself, _that_ was another life. And he had other priorities now.

Miroku had found the second set of witnesses particularly intriguing. He looked around for Inuyasha and was annoyed to find him absent. Apparently he had not been able to drag himself away from breakfast.

Despite a sighting of Miroku examining the palm of the princess, the state's case was paused, apparently hinged upon Miroku's reading. Her tour of her father's collection of antique ceramics had yet to be revealed. Of course, neither was the princess herself. That tour had been _quite_ private. And she was _still_ missing. The only real question was why her guest remained unconvicted.

It struck Miroku that perhaps he had merely found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and had never been planned as the original scapegoat to begin with. After all, how likely was it that more than one or two people knew that this particular princess was yet another _good friend_ of the personable young monk? He'd been a bit surprised himself that she'd remembered him, and a rather awkward portion of their tour had been spent in his earnest protestations of his attachment to the demon slayer Sango.

He'd thanked every relation of Lord Buddha he could think of that this particular princess had waited to succumb to his previous blandishments until this subsequent visit, when he had no blandishments to offer.

Which did not release him from the duty to determine just who in fact had taken the girl from her father's house.

The monk laughed silently as he was led back to his cell. _Fuckit. They'll believe whatever they want. _His primary concern was advising Inuyasha to track down the lawyer presenting the secondary group of witnesses. He didn't think there was much use in investigating the primary accusers, beyond, perhaps, establishing what had happened to the princess herself. This would not likely help him – she was either dead or discredited, no good witness to his defense.

Still, her fate _should_ be ascertained and, if possible, her freedom obtained. A fragment of his personality wondered if his easy attention to her had perhaps somehow led to her seduction by whatever villains had chosen to rob her father of his greatest assets.

Still, for all Miroku's easy charm he had yet to receive real evidence that he'd had impact on others' lives beyond a fleeting night's pleasure.

His religion had trained him thus, and he had yet to hear of any repercussions otherwise.

Nevertheless, absence of evidence would not prove evidence, not when the prime witness was missing, and the spoils unrecovered.

Miroku breathed deeply, wondering how much freedom his bonds would allow for a meditation stance. More to the point, he found himself wondering just what in the hell Inuyasha had been doing with his time.-


	2. Chapter 2

_Mmp. Perhaps believing I could finish this in 3 chapters was a bit optimistic! Anyway, still refusing to lay claim to anything or anyone._

_Disclaimer: Standard terms apply – since I neither own nor claim anything contained herein, no legal rights have been violated._ _Perhaps "helping me" needs clarification._

Chapter 2: Naughty, naughty…

"Yeah, everyone's sure he and the princess were 'doing it' in the garden after the tour – mind telling me sometime just exactly what _that_ means? But she _did_ come back to her quarters afterwards," Shippou licked his fingers, having just finished ostentatiously consuming some savory pastry-type dish as Inuyasha watched, desperately controlling his patience.

"Her dresser had been waiting to help her out of a few layers of kimono, and the princess dismissed her. But _not_ before the dresser noticed her hiding away something in a box in her room. The dresser also doesn't think Miroku kidnapped her because 'such a kind and handsome holy man would never do such a thing'." He finished off in falsetto.

Shippou looked up at Inuyasha with a calculating look in his eye. "Just how pissed do you think Sango will be to learn Miroku was flirting again?"

"You can discuss that with him once we get him out of there. That ain't my problem right now." Inuyasha said thoughtfully. "Did your dresser say exactly _when_ Miroku left her mistress?"

"She did, actually. She was struck by the tour of the moon-garden ending _before_ moon-rise, especially since apparently the princess had been spending quite a bit of time there well _after_ moon-rise over the last couple of weeks." Shippou grinned. "Since we haven't been here more than a couple of _days_, unless her ladyship has been strolling the garden on her own late at night it sounds definitely like Miroku's got competition. And since Miroku hasn't had any opportunity to hide away either girl or goods, odds are pretty good the competition is the guilty party."

Inuyasha looked at him sideways. "You are gauging his opportunity by the fact that I was called to the castle to talk with him after his arrest within two hours of moonrise, aren't you? Damnit, that would be fine except he can be damned sneaky and clever – what if he wrangled Hachi into helping him again? He had a good two hours before he was arrested!"

Shippou's eyes widened in some surprise. "Are you saying you actually think he's _guilty_?"

"No, damn it." He growled. "I'm trying to think like the prosecution. Demons like us are no good as witnesses to these people, but I'm surprised the dresser's information didn't clear him. She's human, ain't she?"

Shippou rolled his eyes. "_Too _human. Idiot girl has decided that Miroku is some romantic hero aiding the princess in a plot to overthrow her despotic father. Her protests regarding his innocence only make him _reek _of guilt. It took some close questioning to actually get the facts of the timing and her mistress' previous activities out of her. You think the _humans _are that interested in finding out the truth?"

Inuyasha grunted. "Not likely. Not when you got a convenient outsider to blame. 'Course, they don't _usually_ pick on holy men."

"And holy men don't usually provide such ample targets, do they?" Shippou yawned. "No, the kicker is that it seems our monk was extra busy last night. After leaving the castle he was seen – shortly _after _moon-rise – with yet another young lady down by the levee gate. Got _that_ from a laundress who lives on the other side of the levee on her way home after her day's work. Since the moon was full last night, and you know how bright it is at moonrise, she got a _good _look at his face, and there aren't that many wandering about in monks' robes these days. Unfortunately, she didn't get a good glimpse of who the _lady_ was, except to say she wasn't dressed anywhere fine enough to be the princess. I figure the laundress ought to be a good judge of that."

"Yeah right. Except that if you were a princess attempting to disguise yourself the first thing you'd do is drop the fancy clothes, now wouldn't you?" Inuyasha pointed out, although he rather suspected such an obvious move probably wouldn't have occurred to most young aristocratic ladies. Then again, how many young aristocratic ladies dallied with wholly unsuitable admirers under their fathers' noses? Hmm. On second thought, he reminded himself, he was in no position to consider that question.

Damn it! This was far more up Miroku's line of expertise and he couldn't ask the bastard because his judgment was compromised by self-interest.

Shippou's eyes had grown round and horribly shiny. "Inuyasha. The way you talk – you almost have me convinced. You don't think Miroku is actually _guilty,_ do you?"

"'Course not, runt. Yes, the bouzu _could_ have seduced the princess. Yes, he _could_ have stolen the goods, _and_ managed to sneak them away using Hachi or some other means you or I aren't smart enough to figure out. But no. He _ain't _gonna kidnap an innocent girl or harm her in any way. And Miroku ain't _dumb_ enough to pull such a stunt and get _caught_ at it. No. He's innocent, alright. So, we gotta find the girl down by the levee and get her to testify as to activities with her during the critical time period. I don't see any other way around it." Inuyasa kept quiet as to his other conclusions. After all, it wouldn't do Shippou any good to know that he was damned sure Miroku had _planned_ to be the thief in this caper, even if someone had beaten him to it!

"You think they'll believe some village girl any more than they'll believe us?" Shippou whimpered, inwardly relieved that his own willingness to see innocence of the greater wrong in light of evidence of Miroku's philandering was not belied by Inuyasha's judgment.

Inuyasha shrugged. "Line it up with the dresser's evidence, along with a decent lawyer to lay it out right, and it might do the trick. Can't say the testimony against him is all that strong – they just ain't got anyone else."

"Where _we_ gonna find a decent lawyer?"

"Shit, Shippou. Lawyers're like the fuckin' monks. They spring up everywhere. Just gotta follow the _money_. But we gotta find one that none of these minor landholders have _already_ pre-empted." Another hanyou shrug.

The kitsune responded with yet another eyeroll. "You weren't paying attention to the hearing, this morning, were you? It looks like every landholder throughout the prefecture is involved in this, one way or another. Finding a lawyer not already sucking up to one of them isn't gonna be easy. And, it's gonna be _expensive_."

"Huh." Inuyasha grunted. "As to this morning's trial, I was _busy. Someone_ had to explain to Kagome and Sango why the hell Miroku wasn't at breakfast!"

Shippou's eyes instantly brightened. Inuyasha had dragged him away from Kagome's side damnedly early – certainly well before breakfast – to send him on this investigative mission, and while the thought of the half-demon eating sanguinely while he was busy among the castle's staff was annoying, his sense of humor was instantly caught by the thought of Inuyasha attempting to prevaricate to two highly intelligent and suspicious girls, one of which could brain him without compunction and the other who apparently had no qualms about sending him crashing to the ground on a whim. It was highly entertaining to imagine Inuyasha attempting to navigate the hazardous shoals of the girls' curiosity and, especially, Sango's concern regarding Miroku.

"Hurt much?"

"You've no idea."

"So do they know he's in jail?"

"Not exactly."

Shippou aimed an inquisitory glance at Inuyasha. The much larger half-demon squirmed even as he questioned his own reaction. Damn it! When did he give a damn about what anyone else thought?

"Okay. So I told them he's helping out in the investigation. The dumbass always puts it across how smart he is so it seemed as reasonable an explanation as any."

Shippou pondered a moment, and then lifted his eyebrows in acknowledgment. "Gotta admit, that's better than I could have done. Did they buy it?"

"Seems like it. At least, so far. I had to play _way_ dumb when they started asking questions…"

He frowned as a look of merriment spread across Shippou's features. "Shut the fuck up if you don't want to die. Or, I could send you back and let them question you?"

"Ah, no. Not until I've had a chance to clear negotiations with Miroku." The young kisune skipped away. "In the meantime, I'll see what else I can dig up. Shall I meet you at sundown here again?"

"No, damnit. Stop in and let Kagome know you're alright before you hare off on anything else. You know she'll blame me if she's worried about what you're up to. And if she does that, I'll have to _pound_ you when I see you."

* * *

It had been with some relief that Miroku had greeted Inuyasha in his cell an hour or so before noon. Relief because Inuyasha had been fairly well informed as to the hearing's evidence as presented, the girls still seemed oblivious as to the state of his incarceration, and either he was finished with teasing Miroku or he honestly believed his friend was innocent of all charges.

"You lied, though, about knowing the girl," Inuyasha threw out, almost as an afterthought.

"Not at all. Yes, I'd _met_ the girl. _Yes,_ she gave me a tour of her father's ceramic's collection. _Yes_, we took a lovely stroll through her private garden…"

"Fuck it, Monk! What exactly is your definition of "knowing" someone?"

Miroku coughed. "Well. It's not like I _knew_ her! I mean, the way they all _assume_ I did. Ah hell! Inuyasha! I met her a couple years ago and nothing came of it then, although I admit I tried. This time, she acted like she was interested, and I explained to her about _Sango_, damn it. We settled on looking at her father's collection, and that was that."

Inuyasha found himself inclined to believe his friend. There was _just_ enough awkwardness in his accounting to make it quite credible. It didn't hurt that Inuyasha was by this time quite aware of the desperation that entered Miroku's scent every time Sango's name was mentioned.

"Shit." Inuyasha grinned. "All those years of trying to con your way into women's beds – 'I'm gonna die any day; will you bear my children?' – and you finally find one who says 'yes, but later'. Suddenly you got women jumping out of the walls wanting you to bed them. And the bitch you _want_ would castrate you if you said yes to any of them. I'm guessing that's karma kicking you pretty hard in the butt."

Miroku closed his eyes, searching his brain in vain for the appropriate sutra for the moment. He idly considered it a karmic moment that Inuyasha had managed to bypass his usual defenses against the half-demon's barbs.

"Perhaps we would be better served discussing what you've discovered than debating what I may or may not deserve?" Miroku weighed heavily on his most mellifluous tones and considered just how much more he could reveal. After all, he had asked his friend to tread on most dangerous grounds here, without fully understanding just what he was undertaking.

Finally, the two were more or less alone together. Rather, as private as any party could be in a cell with a barred door open to a hallway guarded day and night.

Miroku swallowed hard as he atteempted to make coded confessions regarding the princess. That they had come after Inuyasha's noting her prior dalliances with someone else helped – after all, the evidence at his hearing had suggested as much – but if he were honest he'd have to admit his ego was tarnished. And Inuyasha was hardly the most altruistic of witnesses when the time came for him to explain to Sango...

Miroku laughed, this time without bitterness. Perhaps it would be good to clear the air a bit before they got on to the business at hand. Hopefully, Inuyasha would have gained some hint as to the princess's whereabouts.

He looked hard at his fist clenched over the sacred rosary beads that strung his life out yet another day. _At the very least_, he thought, _Inuyasha will have found a way to get us back on our way. Even if "us" does not include "me"._


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I was recently reminded that it appeared I'd abandoned this story, despite my original assurances that it would be – by design and already written outline – disposed of in a few short chapters. Well, I still think I can pull this off in under 10! Yes, the outline has expanded – remind me not to consult my characters when I write a story, please! They object to brevity – I put it all down to actors' ego and fear of limited opportunities to shine._

_Disclaimer: Own nothing, claim nothing. No point in incurring legal fees, even as to character rights…_

Chapter 3: 

"Whatever you do, you idiotic, miscreant, poor excuse for a holy man…" Miroku's eyes flew open as he was jerked into all too instant alertness, "Don't you ever for a single instant attempt to hide your sneaking, lying, pecuniary-seeking soul from me or I'll have your hide nailed…" With a deep breath he attempted to ignore the searing tones of his beloved as he recognized how foolish he had been to rest hope in Inuyasha's ability to prevaricate.

And as Inuyasha filed into his cell behind Sango he couldn't help but level a gimlet eye at the hanyou. "You couldn't even buy me one full day…?"

He was interrupted as, having ascertained his reasonable heartiness, Sango's right arm whaled back to deliver as sound a slap across his chops as had ever assailed his sojourns across her delectable backside. "But Sango, I haven't _touched_ you –"

"Idiot! You think I wouldn't rather you fawn all over me than land yourself in prison? Stupid, _stupid_ man!"

Miroku filed the statement away for future reference. Obviously, he could not find recourse to it in the current situation, but who knew what might lie in the future?

"She's right, Miroku," Kagome's tones were remarkably sanguine, all things considered, as she ducked her head upon entering Miroku's cell. She looked around, considering Miroku's height. _Poor man must be miserable at not being able to stand up straight here_. "How did you think you were going to get out of this without our help? While I'm sure Inuyasha could break you out easily enough, we should probably keep that solution in reserves."

Miroku smiled. Leave it to Kagome-sama to be pragmatic as always. And, yes, of course. What did she really think else was keeping him from panicking? Miroku had a deep suspicion that Buddha was inclined to help only those who helped themselves – as clearly indicated by the Great Wheel's lessons in self-improvement. Mind you, Inuyasha's strength and perseverance was a lovely fall-back position, one he was immensely grateful to realize was at his disposal.

"Dear ladies," he intoned, still trying to decide if he was happy to see them or mortified beyond belief. "Inuyasha and I have the current situation well in hand and, really, you have no need to concern yourselves."

Said statement this time earned him a backhand – with all her usual force – from the other side as Sango paced in front of him. He deeply regretted 1) the chains and, incidentally, palm-encompassing cuff confining the arm with his _Kazaana_, and 2) his oath against violence from reminding the woman he loved that he was not actually physically incompetent and forcefully tamping down her absurd – albeit heartwarming - tantrums. Hmm, he _had_ overlooked the oath now and then before; perhaps he should confine his ire to these stupid physical restraints. After all, it would be very satisfying – not to mention rather fun - to finally exercise some forceful restraint of Sango.

On the other hand, the lovely flush of her countenance and intensity of her gaze as she spoke to him forgave much. "We are a _team_! We work _together_! And you are not allowed to work alone without first confirming it with me – I mean us! I mean, can't you keep your stupid lecherous tendencies in hand at least enough not to get yourself jailed?"

Miroku assumed a wounded mien. "Lovely Sango, _must_ you assume me guilty? And you haven't even let me try to tell _my_ side of the story…"

If he were lucky, Sango's guilt at doubting him would never require him to tell any such thing. He also made a point of refusing to catch Kagome's eye. The girl from the future was far too canny – obviously families in the future exposed their innocent daughters to far too much of the ugliness the world had to offer at far too young of an age. Much as he enjoyed his conversational sparring with Kagome, he was not altogether comfortable with her sagacity.

It seemed that Sango herself had spent too much time in Kagome's company. "Just pray that the magistrate doesn't call for _my_ testimony, monk!"

And then, damned if Kagome didn't come to his rescue after all. "I'm so sorry, Miroku-sama, but *cough* you positively reek! Is that an eggshell in your hair?"

--------------------------------

Several buckets of clean water more or less gently sluiced over him later, both girls had left, Miroku's kesa and sopping under-kimono in hand, leaving the poor monk feeling decidedly bare in nothing more than his dark hakama.

Inuyasha found the girls' persuasiveness with the guards a wondrous element of his association with them. He also enjoyed how Miroku's pleasure in their attention to him warred with, for him, an oddly out-of-character element of shyness as they stripped the monk down under said guards' cautious gaze.

At their insistence, a blanket and brazier had been brought into the cell to warm the monk in his decidedly damp remaining clothing. Gruffly Sango had wrapped the blanket around his shoulders, tucking it in around his torso as the guard reattached his chains.

Throughout, Inuyasha had maintained a quiet folded-leg stance on the other side of the cell with his back against the wall. Luckily, it was also the high side and he was in no danger of getting drenched from the water even now still pooled a bit beneath the kneeling monk as it slowly drained down a convenient hole in the far corner. As in the first time he'd entered Miroku's cell, he'd had to leave _Tettseiga_ at the gate before he was granted entrance. He was canny enough not to point out how his claws and demon strength rendered such precautions ludicrous, but it did irk him to leave his father's inheritance under any eyes but his own.

He was more irked when, the girls having left, Miroku still seemed no more forthcoming as to the previous night's exploits than he had proved before. It wasn't fair. It wasn't like he had actually told the girls anything! Although it was just like Kagome to insist that _everyone_ knew that "helping the police with their inquiries" was a euphemism for being arrested.

-----------------------------------------

"C'mon, monk, if you're not willing to tell me about the girl down at the levee, surely there must be _some _woman in this town willing to testify on your behalf during the critical time period?" Inuyasha railed. He'd found a serving woman at the baths who was willing to state that she _might_ have seen the princess enter just after moon-rise that night, although she wasn't wholly certain. Between his threats and Shippou's blandishments – including a promise of a jade good-luck charm _he_ had no access to but trusted Miroku's contacts to supply – the servant had agreed to testify.

There was, after all, a magical quality to the number three. Combined with the dresser's and bath attendant's testimony, an alibi from the levee girl – or someone willing to testify in her stead – might be enough to get Miroku off the hook and all of them out of this stupid province and its political shenanigans.

"You give me far too much credit, my friend. Perhaps there are one or two who might … well, actually… and I think maybe their husbands might object to any such testimony…" Miroku stammered.

Inuyasha groaned. "Okay. I totally refuse to defend you in the future from either Sango or Kagome. Your ass is your own."

"Oh, sure, like _you_ don't have to worry about ladies ready to make claims on _your_ ass? It's happened before and we both know it will happen again. You know and I know your looks go a hell of a long way to overcoming any worries as to your being hanyou, as far as females are concerned – although that personality thing, well... Not to mention the whole prior-reincarnation unpleasantness… You wanna play it every man for himself, that's fine. Just remember, _you_'re the half-demon." Miroku looked away with a gesture of dismissal, having once again found repose in logic and his understanding of his fellows.

"That's pretty low, especially for a monk."

Miroku shrugged. "Don't be ridiculous. As a holy man I should be calling for your purification into oblivion. It's only because I like you that I abstain."

"Fucker," Inuyasha snorted. "You think I'm not aware Buddha thought all sentient beings had potential for enlightenment?"

"I _had_ supposed I could rest in the hope you didn't understand the term 'sentient'," Miroku chuckled richly. He had noted Inuyasha's intelligence much earlier regarding his battle strategies. One never knew when elements of what Miroku knew must be at least a full human lifespan's years of experience and education would show itself in the apparently adolescent man's – oh, demi-demon's – observations.

"Dumbass, as if I believed that! If you were so foolish as to rest in unfounded hopes regarding demons you'd have died long before the _kazaana_ consumed you."

"That said, you still let me down." Miroku grew solemn. "There is nothing _they_ can do to help me, and now their suffering will be merely prolonged if I cannot be vindicated."

Inuyasha swallowed hard. Miroku seemed surprisingly resigned to his fate, his only real concern the pain it would cause Sango and, subsequently, Kagome and the others.

"This aint like you, Miroku." He opined. "What's really going on, here? Who the fuck's messing around, and what are they trying to accomplish?"

The monk sighed heavily. "I only wish I knew!"

Miroku's confession was not particularly illuminating, nor by any means straightforward. Afterwards, Inuyasha was able to gather that their group's appearance in the area was purely fortuitous, as far as the local rebel group aligned with the princess was concerned. Likewise, as suspected, the princess herself was the lynchpin to any coup, and apparently she had been more than willing to lend herself to such action. With the additional funds from the sale of her father's ceramic collection, independent ronin could have been brought in to tip whatever balance might have remained.

None of this was plainly stated, and if queried afterwards – as Shippou actually did – he couldn't pin down any single statement of Miroku's that led him to any of these conclusions. Even so, he felt more than confident as to their truth.

As a hanyou, Inuyasha was more than cognizant of guilt by association, and took it under consideration to beat heartily into Miroku's backside any principles of agency liability – that is, problems visited upon the rest of them from Miroku's activities by virtue of their relationship - that the monk had somehow managed to overlook in his own copious education (Actually, Inuyasha was fairly certain Miroku's understanding of agency far exceeded his own, especially as to its limitations, liability-wise).

"Yer still stallin' me. You wanna find the bitch and the asshole who took her or not?" By now Inuyasha was furious. The scent trail had become so confused over the last dozen or so hours he wasn't sure even he could untangle it, and he laid no little blame for this delay at his friend's feet.

"Didn't I say I _wanted_ you to find her? Although, I can't believe she's been harmed…" Miroku grimaced and looked sideways at Inuyasha. While his expression was almost instantly frozen into blankness, the hanyou's demonic senses perceived something that made him think that Miroku was of two minds as wanting to swallow those last words.

It was, actually, an odd statement on Miroku's part. In point of fact, in anyone _else_ he would have put it off as a bad job of lying. In Miroku, consummate prevaricator that he was, it had to be something else. Inuyasha thought deeply.

"You did, actually, say you wanted me to find her, _but_ you've told me nothing to make that possible. To help you_,_ you say you want me to track down that _lawyer_. But, as for finding the princess, you just don't seem all that worried," Inuyasha eyed the monk carefully. In his turn, his friend's gaze was impassive.

"The princess, whether innocent or guilty of any part of this theft, has a great heart. It would be a terrible loss to her people should she come to any real harm." Miroku held Inuyasha's gaze unwaveringly as he made this obviously sanctimonious and proper speech..

"Hnn. So. I'll certainly do my best to find her. _And_ the girl down by the levee. And that lawyer you mentioned…"

"Ah, yes. Inuyasha. I could _ask _nothing more of you." Miroku flashed one of those enigmatic smiles that drove the girls everywhere crazy. Inuyasha would have liked to remind Miroku that it was just the two of them, but he suspected that 1) such smiles were such an engrained part of Miroku's personality as to be impossible to avoid and, 2) the monk was all too aware that their conversation was almost certainly observed by others and he was attempting to communicate, again, to Inuyasha on another level.

He would pound Miroku about not anticipating and developing something more suited to male-to-male communications later. After all, who knew how much longer he would be associated with this pervert. What he _didn't_ want happening was folks assuming that, besides being hanyou, he was _also_ perverted. Guilt by association.

In the meantime, he nodded briefly to the monk as he took his leave.

-------------------------------------

Miroku settled himself again into a pose for meditation. It had been idle hope, of course, to believe Sango and Kagome could be kept wholly in ignorance of his interactions with this valley's princess as she sought out political transitions. He wouldn't have minded so much, actually, if it hadn't cast questions as to his heart's loyalty to Sango. Questions he wasn't honestly sure his relationship could survive, all things considered. And then, of course, there were the larger issues to be considered.

Which was why, of course, no lines could ever be drawn from a humble Buddhist monk to the tremblings of social revolution in this otherwise quiet corner of the feudal states.

Buddha's way involved individual hearts, not conqueror's aims. Still, how could any man ignore injustice before him?

As the _kazaana_ pulsed in his palm, Miroku was reminded yet again that his bowl was full. There was only so much he could do in this world and, as the ever-widening circle of that hell-hole reminded him, only so much time.

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End file.
